The Story of Marriage

My name is Bi Xiaonuan. I am 29 years old, have been married for three years, and live with my husband, Shen Zeyan, in a quiet high-end community in the city center.

Shen Zeyan works in project management at a technology company. In the past six months, due to cooperation with major overseas clients, his workload has increased dramatically, and he has to leave early and return late almost every day. I understand the pressure of the workplace and support his career, so I take on all the housework voluntarily, keeping our home tidy and organized so he can relax when he comes home.

Our life is plain and routine, without dramatic ups and downs or messy conflicts. To outsiders, we are just an ordinary young couple. The only thing is that busyness has reduced our time together, and most of our conversations are about daily chores, with less of the intimate interaction we had when dating. But this is common in adult marriages, and I never thought anything bad of it.

Our third wedding anniversary was in one week. I wanted to prepare a gift quietly to add a little ceremony to our dull life. Using my saved pocket money, I chose a simple and durable silver tie clip and wrote a blessing card by hand, wishing him success in work and safety and health.

I put the tie clip and the card into a dark blue flannel box, planning to hide it on the top shelf of the wardrobe and take it out on our anniversary. But as I turned around, my hand slipped, and the box dropped directly to the floor, rolling all the way to the deepest part through the gap under the bed.

Our bed was a custom-made reinforced model with metal brackets around it. The gap between the bed and the floor was narrow, leaving little space. Without thinking much at that moment, I lay straight on the floor, leaned my upper body under the bed, and reached for the box. The second my fingertips touched the box, I felt relieved. But when I tried to pull back, my shoulder was suddenly stuck tightly between the bed frame and the carpet edge, unable to move.